Aug 10 You're doing it wrong, money edition

Sometimes when you haven't been to the US in two years, stuff like this happens.

I went to Target twice in one day, and the second time, my credit card was declined because of a fraud alert. I was right there in line trying to pay and it was so embarrassing. If I hadn't been so mortified, I might have been entertained by the fact that two trips to Target in one day sets off a fraud alert. A two-year streak of purchases in Finland followed by some Amazon bingeing - no problem. But Target twice in one day!?!? WHO WOULD EVEN.

Anyway, I would have used my Finnish card, but I wasn't sure of the fees to use it in the US. And I would have used my US debit card, but I couldn't remember my PIN (because it had been two years since I'd used it). I called the credit card company right there at the register, but they wouldn't resolve the issue with me since Jeremy is the primary account holder (I guess a penis is required...?). UGH.

So I walked over to the bank to try to figure out my debit card PIN. The bank was closed, so I looked for an ATM - I was pretty sure those still existed in the US. But there were no walk-up ATMs, only the drive-through ones. I was almost certain I was Doing It Wrong at this point, but I just walked up to the drive-through ATM and managed to remember my PIN.

Once I had that, I walked back to Target and bought my stuff. Of course, I had to fend off an offer for Target's credit card - I swear every store this summer asked me to sign up for their proprietary credit card to save 5% or whatever. And it always ended up being the longest story why I was not interested.

-No thanks!

"But you can save x% on this and all future purchases!"

-There's not a Target where I live.

"But it works for online purchases, too!"

-Target doesn't even ship to where I live [this is no longer technically true but the delivery costs are prohibitive].